


Misunderstandings

by LunaRavenclaw9



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts Eighth Year, Jealousy, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Post-War, Sneaking Around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:20:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22853134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaRavenclaw9/pseuds/LunaRavenclaw9
Summary: How spying on your boyfriend can go wrong...Or, that time when Harry didn't confront an issue and instead decided to sneak after his boyfriend on a secret rendezvous.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini
Comments: 10
Kudos: 109
Collections: Love Fest 2020





	Misunderstandings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArielSakura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArielSakura/gifts).



> This was written for The Fairest of the Rare's Love Fest 2020
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH TO [noxsoulmate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxsoulmate) for her help with finally getting this piece beta'd. 
> 
> If you have read this already I suggest reading it again because, while it is definitely the same story, it is not the half confused mess I originally posted in a hurry after writing in spurts between flights, layovers, and traveling back into the country. It is definitely a more polished version of the original.
> 
> This has been completely updated and reworked as of May 14, 2020.

Sneaking around under his invisibility cloak should feel normal for Harry by now. He had used it so much since Dumbledore had given it to him, so why does this time feel different?

Well, for starters, he didn’t usually stalk anyone. Yes, there was sixth year when he tried to obtain proof of his theory on Malfoy’s Death Eater status. Ok, and there were those few people while Harry had been on the run with Hermione and Ron during their seventh year.

Other than those few times, Harry tried not to make it a habit to stalk people while under his cloak. He had to figure out what was going on with his boyfriend though. Usually just the thought of the tall, dark, handsome man sent a thrill through Harry. But lately, all he had done was leave Harry feeling very confused.

  
  


***

He had spent so much of his life trying to do the right thing, and he did end up saving the world from a tyrannical maniac. But once the threat of imminent death had been lifted, Harry had made a few completely unexpected decisions.

With Molly starting to plan Harry and Ginny’s wedding immediately after the war, both mother and daughter were blindsided when Harry broke off their relationship not even a month later. Harry explained to his two best friends and now ex-girlfriend that he realised what he had felt for Ginny was more friendship than love - because he was actually gay.

“Once the realisation struck, I couldn’t believe I had never noticed before,” he explained as he paced Ron’s room at the Burrow a few weeks after the break up.

There was a knowing smile on Hermione’s face, which grew the more she listened. It faltered once Harry told them exactly who his new boyfriend was.

“Blaise Zabini? You mean to tell me that you are dating, and snogging, Blaise Zabini?” Hermione asked incredulously. “I would have put my money on Malfoy.”

Harry’s already pink cheeks turned a deep crimson at her comment.

“Wait, what does Malfoy have to do with all this, Harry?” Ginny asked, catching the darker blush.

“...hemayhavebeenthefirstbloketokissme,” Harry mumbled quickly.

All three leaned in as if the closer proximity to him would help them hear better, Ron finally adding to the conversation, “didn’t catch that one, mate, think you can slow it down a little for us?”

With an exaggerated sigh, Harry repeated himself, all while glaring at Ron, “he may have been the first bloke to kiss me.”

“Ah, gotcha,” Ron muttered sheepishly, the back of his neck slightly pink, “good on you.”

Ginny may have been blindsided when Harry first broke it off with her but she understood once they were able to talk things out. Now she was excited to learn the juicier details. It helped that she and Colin Creevy - much to everyone’s surprise - hit it off when he interviewed her for an article he was writing on quidditch.

Bouncing up and down on the bed next to Hermione, Ginny pressed for more details, “that doesn’t explain what you are doing with Zabini? How did you get from Malfoy to him?”

Harry finally stopped pacing and sat down next to Ron. “Malfoy said he kissed me because of the sexual tension that had been brewing for years between us, and I couldn’t find a fault in that. Looking back, there really was a lot of it, Merlin, all those quidditch matches. Umm,” Harry cleared his throat as he dropped his face into his hands for a moment. “Anyway, the kiss was good, Malfoy is unfairly talented in that department, but it felt a lot like when I kissed you, Ginny.”

With an affronted squawk, Ginny threw herself dramatically back to lay on the bed, “oh the horror, to be compared to that ferret.” She sat up again abruptly with a wild look in her eye, “wait, which one of us was the better kisser, unfairly talented? Does that mean I am unfairly talented as well?” 

With a lecherous grin, she said, “Oh nevermind, I will just ask Colin’s opinion later! Let’s move on to Zabini.”

“Bloody hell, Gin, I do not need to hear about what you do with that little boy when I am not around. I still think you are too young for any of that nonsense.” Ron covered his ears with his hands as he mimed retching over the side of the bed.

“Oh stuff it, Ron.”

Sounding so much like Professor McGonagall that Ron and Ginny both straightened up, Hermione barked, “if you are QUITE finished, I would like to hear Harry’s story now.”

“When I was helping to rebuild Hogwarts, Malfoy, Blaise, and I were assigned the same areas on a pretty frequent basis. One thing sort of just led to another. I mean, Blaise is really flirty with everyone, so in the beginning I thought that is all it was, but one day Malfoy pulled me aside and told me I needed to get my head out of my arse and pay more attention to Blaise.”

With a dreamy smile on his face, Harry continued, “turns out, he had been trying to ask me out for weeks but I kept misunderstanding and blowing him off.”

***

Harry’s friends were amazingly supportive. After he told them about Blaise, he mentioned that instead of going straight into auror training like he and Ron had originally planned, Harry wanted to go back to school and finish out his NEWTs. The more he thought about it, the more he realised he wanted a year without anyone trying to kill him, a year to be a regular kid in school, albeit one who had survived a war and had a rather large case of PTSD. 

So, that was how Harry could be found sneaking after his boyfriend through the halls of Hogwarts castle. Blaise had been acting really odd recently and Harry couldn’t help but wonder why. The invisibility cloak was his last ditch effort to try and figure out what was going on. The Marauder’s Map had shown him meeting Nott multiple times in an unused classroom but every time he went to look, they were gone.

Now, Harry watched Blaise search up and down the corridor before disappearing into the same classroom Harry had searched multiple times, finding nothing. Once he reached the room, it took a moment before he puzzled out what to do from there. He couldn’t just barge in, even under the invisibility cloak. After all, a door opening and closing on its own was cause for alarm. Even in the wizarding world. 

Eventually he pressed his ear against the door - only to soon regret his late-night adventure.

Not able to listen to the muffled conversation any longer, he turned and fled back to the common room, one line replaying over and over in his head.

_ “Harry will never understand.” _

What was he to think? What could they possibly be doing that he wouldn’t understand? 

Their friendship? Harry knew Nott was Blaise’s best friend, he knew they were close. But Harry was close to his two best friends as well - told them things he didn’t share with others, had inside jokes no one else would understand - no, it would be stupid if Blaise and Nott thought Harry wouldn’t understand the concept of friendship.

That must mean there was something more to Nott’s statement and to all these late-night meetings.

A dark thought latched onto Harry’s mind and he simply could not shake it.

He had watched his two best friends fall in love - he  _ knew _ that sometimes a great friendship could grow into more.

That sometimes, feelings got involved. Sometimes, two friends fell in love.

Taking a shaky breath, Harry tried to redirect his thoughts. But that thought was like a neon light flashing front and center.

Suddenly, his mind supplied him with all these pictures and instances and memories. How touchy feely Blaise and Nott were, even for friends; Harry and Ron certainly weren’t like that. How Nott would always give him a jealous look whenever he sat next to Blaise or when he would draw his boyfriend’s attention away from Nott. How Harry had yet to hear a nice word from Blaise’s best friend apart from ‘hello’.

By the time Harry reached Gryffindor tower, the dark thoughts had completely taken hold of Harry’s mind, festering there until there was a jealous rage that built further and further inside of him. There was no doubt in his mind anymore.

And how dare Blaise act like this? If he enjoyed whatever was going on with Nott better than what he had started with Harry - then maybe they should just end their relationship!

Harry pushed through the portrait hole, absolutely fuming. It took everything in him not to find a way to wake Hermione so he could talk to her about all of this. It was probably for the better anyway - he was in no mood to  _ talk  _ and he had no desire to scream at his best friend because he was angry with someone else.

It took hours upon hours, but sleep finally came some time in the early morning. Once Harry had quit his aggressive pacing around the common room long enough to sit down in front of the dying embers of the fire, he sank into a fitful nap on the couch in front of the fireplace. 

***

Harry found that ignoring Blaise was easier said than done. Unfortunately about five minutes into his plan, Hermione took notice.

“Harry what is wrong with you? Why are we taking the extra long way to Transfiguration?”

In his panic to run in the opposite direction Harry couldn’t come up with a lie quickly enough so he just blurted out, “I’m trying to stay away from Blaise.”

“What?! Why?!” she practically yelled.

With a frantic glance over her shoulder to make sure Blaise wasn’t close anymore, Harry tried to make an excuse as to why he wouldn’t want to see his boyfriend. As he opened his mouth to try and reply with a reasonable explanation, he must have hesitated a moment too long because Hermione cut him off before he could even make a sound.

“Stop the bullshite, Harry. And don’t look at me like that, we both know you were searching for some stupid excuse. Cut it out and tell me what’s really going on.”

Due to her signature Hermione glare, Harry caved quite easily and explained what he had noticed the last few weeks and the conversation he overheard the night before. 

“Something has to be going on, Hermione, and until I figure out what it is, I really don’t want to see him.”

***

Blaise found Harry later that evening while he was in the library. As he sat down and kissed Harry’s cheek, Blaise said, “I’ve been looking for you all day but it seems like every time I turn a corner, you disappeared. I’ve missed you.”

“I just thought you were too busy hanging out with your best friend to care where I was,” Harry said through gritted teeth as he packed his things hastily. He stood abruptly from the table and without even a backward glance towards Blaise, he hurried out of the room.

If he had taken a moment to look at Blaise he would have seen the present the man kept hidden underneath the table. If he had turned his head a fraction, he would have seen Blaise’s smile fall and the sparkle in his eyes dim. 

But Harry saw none of these things through his haze of anger, hurt, and jealousy.

***

It had been two days since Blaise approached Harry in the library. In that time, he hadn’t come close to Harry again. That didn’t stop Blaise from trying to catch his attention any time he could. Harry started sitting with his back to the Slytherin table at every meal, he sat in the front row with Hermione every class period so Blaise couldn’t turn around and stare at him. 

On his way to drop his books in the common room before dinner, Harry was suddenly yanked behind a tapestry and into a hidden alcove. Before he could get his bearings, Theo Nott pushed him against the wall and stepped right up close.

“I want to know what the fuck is going through your mind, Potter. If you are through with Blaise, then quit stringing him along and just break up with him,” he hissed in his face.

The rage that had been building in Harry for days bubbled over as he shoved the other boy and moved into his space. “You would just fucking love that, wouldn’t you, Nott? Get me out of the way so you can have him all to yourself again? How about you tell him that he can quit stringing me along and you can shove your secret relationship right up both of your arses.”

He shoved the bewildered boy one more time, but before Harry could even make it past the tapestry, Nott grabbed his arm. With a less confrontational tone than before asked, “what are you talking about, secret relationship?”

“I know you guys have been meeting up in an unused classroom,” Harry replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. He raised an eyebrow as if daring Nott to deny the accusation.

Nott scoffed, “so that proves we all were out of bed past curfew, that still doesn’t tell me where this ‘secret relationship’-idea of yours came from.”

Pulling at his hair, Harry shouted back, “the only thing I don’t  _ understand _ , Nott, is why Blaise is acting hurt by me ignoring him. He has you to comfort him of any  _ supposed heartbreak _ ,” - he said the words as if they left a bad taste on his tongue - “he has endured from me. So tell him our farce of a relationship is over and that I never want to speak to him again.”

Before Nott could reply, Harry pushed past the other boy. He heard the boy call out but he had no desire to listen to another word. Eyes burning with unshed tears, his only thought aside the hurt and rage was getting away before Nott could see his humiliation.

***

It took Harry a month to convince McGonagall to let him sit for NEWTs early. He didn’t care how much he had to pay a ministry employee to come give him the tests, he couldn’t stay in school anymore.

Blaise had tried to corner Harry a few times after he and Nott had spoken, so many times in fact that Harry started keeping the invisibility cloak in his bag so he could pull it on and make a quick getaway.

Hermione sent him a letter a week after he took his NEWTs. He should have waited until after this morning tea to read it.

_ Blaise asked where you were today. I told him what I knew but since you will barely tell me what is going on, he didn’t get much from me. But, Harry, he looked so broken. I told him maybe he should write to you. I know you didn’t want to talk to him before you left school but maybe hashing things out without being face to face will help fill whatever void was created between the two of you. I’m sorry if I overstepped but I couldn’t bear to see the pain in his eyes, it matched what I saw in yours the last few weeks before you left school. _

_ I hope you are taking McGonagall’s advice and just relaxing instead of jumping right into training. Ron did tell me he hasn’t heard of you joining the just yet. And remember, if you decide that being an Auror isn’t what you truly want to do, we all will support whatever you decide. _

_ All My Love, _

_ Hermione _

Harry really wanted to be mad at her, but a small part of him saw her point. He wasn’t ready yet though. He was still angry, still hurt. And any conversation he would have with Blaise wouldn’t come to any good as long as he felt this way. 

Even though he had resolved to not think about Hermione’s letter, it was all that floated through his mind ever since. He spent the first three days distracting himself by cleaning Grimmauld place top to bottom, something he should have done the moment he moved back in. He fell into bed exhausted each night, thankful every morning for a dreamless sleep. 

Unfortunately, he ran out of things to keep him occupied rather quickly. It was only a week after Hermione had written to him and all he could think about was finally confronting Blaise.

He couldn’t help but think he deserved to hear from his ex’s own mouth the truth about the whole situation. Blaise really must have been putting on a front for Hermione to feel bad enough to write to Harry about it. Finally, after obsessing about it for far too long, he pulled a piece of parchment out and scribbled a reply to Hermione, simply asking when the next Hogsmeade weekend was and telling her to make sure Blaise would be at the Hog’s Head at two o’clock that day.

***

Harry made sure to get there early enough that no Hogwarts students were in the village yet when he arrived. He walked into the bar and after a jovial greeting with Aberforth, he settled into a corner booth and watched the door.

His patience was wearing thin. He cast a quick tempus charm and saw it was already two thirty. Blaise was always prompt to meetings. Parties were for being fashionably late - but meetings were for being early or exactly on time, depending on who you were meeting with.

Agitated with himself for even trying to do the right thing, he finished his butterbeer and thanked Aberforth before making his way to the door. As he reached for the handle it suddenly burst open. Next thing Harry knew he was sprawled on the floor.

“Shite are you ok? Fuck, Harry, you’re bleeding. Oh Merlin, I’ve hurt you.”

Blaise kept a litany of curse words while also berating himself for being late and in a hurry. Aberforth quickly reset Harry’s nose and shuffled back behind the bar after giving him a wet rag to wipe off the blood. 

Blaise helped Harry off the floor and as they settled into a nearby table, an awkward silence fell over them both. 

Trying to pull on the well of courage he supposedly had, Harry couldn’t get any of the things he wanted to say past his lips. It was as if his throat closed up, he could barely get enough air in to breathe, let alone speak.

Finally, Blaise broke the silence, sounding much smaller than Harry had ever heard, “will you at least tell me what I did wrong?”

“Didn’t Nott tell you?” Harry replied, trying not to be affected by Blaise’s tone. 

Drawing his eyebrows together, Blaise looked at Harry in confusion, “what are you talking about? Theo never said he talked to you.”

“Of course he didn’t,” Harry said, as he scrubbed his hands over his face, remembering too late that his nose was still tender. Deciding not to beat around the bush, Harry blurted in a rush, “look, I might not know exactly what is going on between the two of you, but I was obviously in the way.”

“What did Theo tell you, exactly,” Blaise asked with a dark look.

“Theo didn’t have to tell me anything,” Harry shouted. “I saw you guys meeting all the time. I know he didn’t like me, that he didn’t like me spending so much time with you. I don’t even know why you wasted your time with me if you had something with him all along anyway.”

To Harry’s horror, Blaise chuckled. It started out small but eventually turned into a large belly laugh. After he wiped the tears streaming down his face, he hiccuped a little before he got himself under control, “no one has ever accused me of anything with Theo before, and I’m sorry for laughing but it is just so odd to picture.

“Harry, Theo is my best mate. My chosen brother. Our whole lives it was me and him against our parents, his crazy sycophant father and my black-widow of a mother. I will never have anything more than brotherly love for Theo.”

With a snort, Harry replied, “well, you might want to figure out the type of love he has for you then because it seemed to be anything but brotherly when we spoke before I left school.”

Blaise pinched his nose in frustration, “he tries in his own way to protect me from anyone he deems a threat. He just goes about it in some really weird ways sometimes. He tries so hard not to be like his father but the backhanded ways Mr Nott went about ‘protecting people’ was the only way Theo was raised to help those close to him. He really is trying to change though.”

“What about all those secret meetings late at night then?” Harry challenged.

“I was teaching him the patronus charm. It was the lightest magic I’ve ever come into contact with and after you taught it to me, I wanted to share it with him. He was embarrassed to ask you to teach him so I told him I would try to replicate the lessons you used for me. It was really slow going but he can produce a mist now.”

Blaise looked up from where he had been watching his fingers pick at a whorl on the table, “Harry, I miss you. I… I think I’m in love with you and it broke my heart when you left without an explanation. Will you please give me another chance? And maybe talk to me more this time? If you do so, we don’t let something like this get in the way of what I think we could have.”

Harry stared deep into Blaise’s eyes, he watched the tears well and spill down his chiseled cheeks. Without saying a word, Harry stood from his chair and as he did so, the hope that had begun to flare in the chocolate brown eyes died right away. It came back, though, when instead of walking out the door, Harry moved around the table and laid a soft kiss to Blaise’s lips.

“My heart broke before I even left school. I’m no good at relationships though, as you might have noticed. But if you still want to deal with me, I can try to talk about what is bothering me, instead of ignoring you and the problem.”

“No relationship is going to be easy, Harry, especially when we all come with so much extra baggage. It is the willingness to work through the hard times and misunderstandings that make them worth it,” Blaise said, a small smile gracing his face as he tilted his head up to capture Harry’s lips once more. Quickly deepening it until an uncomfortable cough could be heard from behind them.

They both broke apart a bit sheepishly and apologised to Aberforth before finally leaving his establishment hand in hand. 

**Author's Note:**

> Love and luck to you all!! <3<3
> 
> [Come find me on tumblr, though I don’t use it much yet](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/scarycat23)


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